The Center for Social Development and the newly launched Clark-Fox Policy Institute sponsored and supported the event.

Denise Lieberman

The annual conference provides social work students, faculty and practitioners a space to learn from each other, grapple with complex policy issues, and share research, practice and teaching wisdom. The ISP conference began with a Policy Teaching Institute on June 1, which provided opportunities for faculty to learn innovative approaches for engaging the next generation of social workers in policy practice and advocacy. Sessions included “Social Welfare History Informing Policy Today,” “Maximizing Impact through Policy Analysis,” “Prioritizing Critical Content in Developing a Policy Course,” and many more topics.

The full conference officially launched after the Teaching Institute and featured nationally renowned plenary speakers including Patricia White, director of the Fund for Social Policy Education and Practice; Tanya Rhodes Smith, director of the Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work; and Denise Lieberman, senior director and co-director of the Power and Democracy Program at the Advancement Project. Attendees also watched presentations by researchers and policy analysts from around the country who discussed their most recent findings.

Brown School Dean Mary McKay called the conference “incredibly inspiring and motivating.”

“I am so grateful for the strong leadership ISP is providing to ensure that policy faculty and practitioners have the tools they need to teach future leaders and enact positive change on the populations we serve,” she said.